Machine for treating hides, skins, leather, and other similar pieces of work



RAUSCH 2,000,148

, MACHINE FOR TREATING HIDES, ISKINS, LEATHER, AND OTHER SIMILAR PIECES OF WORK Filed April ,10, 1953 May 7, 1935.

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Patented May 7, 1935 I Q v I UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE."

MACHINE FOR TREATING HIDES, SKINS, LEATHER, AND OTHER SHWILAR PIECES OF WORK Karl Rausch, Dresden, Germany, assignor to The Turner Tanning Machinery Company, Portland, M aine, a corporation of Maine Application April 10, 1933, Serial No. 665,318 In Germany June 3, 1932 11 Claims. (Cl. 149-15) This invention relates to machines for treating such skins are introduced for the second operahides, skins, leather, and other similar pieces tion by placing them over the work support in of work. While the invention is illustrated as ,such manner that they are supported along embodied in a machine for graining and/or softthe backbone line or along'a line adjacent and ening pieces of leather it is to be understood that substantially parallel to the said backboneline. 95

the invention and, various important vfeatures For operating upon a skin so placed both boardthereof may have other applications and uses. n r011 should b ylin ri l hr h "In my copending application, Serial No. 609,633, pressure of the rolls being suitably adjusted as, filed May 6, 1932, there is disclosed a boarding for instance, through treadle means disclosed in 10 machine comprising boarding rolls one of which my D d pp i n menti ned abOVe- 10 is. constructed in such manner that an interhis a t c nsti ut s an th r r as n f mp ymediate portion of the roll is cylindrical in shape ing a boarding '0 1 having Special provision or while the end portions thereof are conical or adlllstabilitytapered, the arrangement being such that the T0 1Jhese ends and in accordance W h animrelative lengths of the cylindrical and tapered Dortant feature of t invention, a W a 15 portions may be altered to suit different pieces 1 Comprising a cylindrical p r nd l or las of rk, conical or tapered end portions isprovided with Pieces of leather suitable for graining operamanually Operable means f a j g b th tations are, in fact, tanned skins, the denser, finer pered p ions f-the r l mul an u y n suc bone line of the skin. The width of this finer, m be Varied relatively to the m at eydenser rt of th skins varies t each lindrical portion of thecroll, the arrangement.be-- skin, as does also the width of the thinner, loose- Conveniently c t 't e tapered portions ly. textured flank portions of the skin. These may be completely efi'aeed whereby h o beportions of which lie along each side of the backmanner 7 that the tapered portions of T011 2 flank portions should not be operated upon at the comes cylindrical throughout By the p v n 25 same pressure as thefiner, denser portions nearof such manually operable means the r er the backbone line of the skin. It will be undertreating r011 may be adjusted instantly v n stood that there is no distinct line of demarcation While the machine in Operation to Suit each b tw th finer denser portions and the thin piece of work presented to the machine, and to r, loosely t t portions of the Skin but secure various desirable results. As illustrated 30 that there is a gradual change from one to the the adjusting means Comprises 0am members th H th tapered ends of the roll are movable in directions lengthwise of the roll and suit d t apply th required pressure since the operable to increase or diminish the diametric taper of such end portions is also gradual. Since dlmehslohs of a conical tapered Of the each skin differs from every other skin in size,

n i th amount f 1oose1y texturedfiank In a preferred construction, the roll comprises ti in comparison with the fi r denser longitudinally extending members and supporttion thereof, it is advantageous to be able to mg members arranged to eo'operate With said vary at will the amount of taper of t 11 and longitudinal membersv in providing a cylindrical 40 of the length of this tapered portion relatively portion and also a conical tapered end P 40 to the cylindrical portion of the roll, as shown in tion of the the longitudinal members my aforesaid di application It is also ing each a flexible end portion arranged tobe advantageous, as herein disclosed, to be able to held in Contact with cam member mounted vary instantly the degree of taper of the roll so on a shaft at the axis of rotation of'the r011,

that the rollcmay be suited to each individual spring means being Provided to hold Saidflex" 45 piece of work, if such should be necessary or deible end portions in Contact With-Said cam sirable. Ordinarily the skins will be sorted more hers F that the flexible en be operated or less carefully so that adjustment of the tapered Bald cams to effect expansion contraction roll willbe made for different batches of skins of the tapered endof the roll- This movement 5 then facility of adjustment is a distinctly demay be c a t aline them w th t e st a ht sirable feature. 7 portions of said longitudinal members which In those cases in which it is desired to send form the cylindrical part of the roll. By this the skins through the machine a second time to arrangement the conical or tapered end part of obtain a boxing eflect upon the grain surface the roll may be varied in inclination, that is rather than for each individual skin, but even of the flexible ends of the longitudinal members in its degree of taper, relative to the cylindrical part of the roll, or be merged in said cylindrical part, thus making it possible to treat various parts of each piece of work suitably although the pieces of work may vary in size. Furthermore, the roll may have a conical or tapered portion or, alternatively, may be cylindrical throughout, in accordance with the way the,

work is presented or with the results desired. As illustrated, the cam members collars at each end of the roll slidably mounted upon the shaft at the axis of rotation of the roll, the said collars being rigidly connected to each other and operable by a hand lever at one end of the roll, means such as a rack and pawl being provided for holding the hand lever and hence the cam members in adjusted position.

These and other important features of the invention and novel combinations of parts will now be described in detail in the specification and then pointed out more particularly in the appended claims.

In the drawing, 7

Fig. 1 is a longitudina sectional view through two co-operating boarding rolls;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional View through the rolls shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a detail view.

' In theillustrated embodiment of the invention, designed more particularly for performing graining and/ or softening operations upon pieces of leather, there is provided a boarding roll 4 cylindrical throughout its entire length and a boarding roll 6 which may be either cylindrical throughout its length or cylindrical in an intermediate portion and with conical or tapered ends.

These rolls co-operate with each other to feed a piece of leather'over an edge portion8 of a work support 10, the rolls being power driven in the same direction as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2, the result being that the work is moved upwardly by roll 6 and downwardly on the opposite side of the work support 16 by the roll 4 during which the leather is grained and/or softened, all as explained in detail in my copending application hereinbefore mentioned.

As will be evident upon inspection of the drawings, roll 6 comprises longitudinally extending boarding members [2, each of which has africtional boarding surface provided by' a layer of cork l4, although some other similar substance may be employed having a frictional quality suitable to engage with and move a piece of leather in the manner herein described. For supporting intermediate portions of the longitudinally extending members 12 there are'provided supporting members I6, [8 and 20. As shown, the supporting member l8 comprises a collar 22 carried by a shaft 24 located at the axis of rotation of the roll 6. Extending in opposite directions from the collar 22 are arms 26, 28 carrying at their ends plates 30 to which may be bolted the longitudinally extending members H. The supporting members l6 and 20 are constructed in a manner similar to the supporting member 18. However, the longitudinally extending members l2 are not secured fixedly to the supporting members 16 and 26 but, if at all, they are slidably secured to said supporting members since it is the intention to adjust the supporting members l6 and 20 lengthwise of the shaft 24 to vary the length of the cylindrical portion of the roll. For this reason the collars of the supporting members l6 and 26 are each provided with a groove to receive a key 32 which is fitted into .a corresponding are carried by I the roll 6, comprise cam 32 by means of which the supporting members groove in the shaft 24. It will be understood that the key 32 insures that the supporting members i6 and 20 will rotate with the shaft 24 while permitting sliding adjustment of the members l6 and 20 upon said shaft. As shown, the members 16 and 20 are secured in their adjusted positions by means of set screws 34.

The supporting members at the ends of the longitudinally extending members l2 not only serve ,as supports but also as adjusting means by which the inclination of the conical or tapered portions of the roll may be varied with respect to the oylindrical portion of the roll. For this reason supporting members36 and 31, at opposite ends of members 38 secured to or forming part of arms 46 (Fig. 2) extending in opposite directions from a collar 42 by which the and 31 are mounted upon clearly shown in Fig. l,

supporting'members 36 the shaft 24. As most the supporting member supporting member 3'l'by means of rods 46 so that both members may be adjusted simultaneously by means provided for the purpose. This adjust- -ment takes place longitudinally of the shaft 24,

the collars 42 of the supporting members 36 and v 3'! being connected to the shaft 24 by means of a key and groove similar to the key and groove at 16 and 26 are slidably'mounted on the shaft 24.

Preferably, and as shown, the adjusting means fbr the supporting members 36 and 31 comprises a manually operable lever 56 pivoted at 52 on a stationary part of the machine frame and having a forked portion 54 provided with rollers 56 receivable within a circular sionfifl'of the collar 42 of the supporting member 31. Upon moving the upper end of the lever 56 to the right in Fig. l the lower end of the lever 56 isficaused to move toward the left in said figune, thereby shifting both supporting members 36 and 3'! toward the left in said figure. By this arrangement the cam members 38 are operated to effect adjusting movements of the adjacent ends ofthe longitudinally extending boarding members l2. Conveniently, 12 carries an anti-friction roll 62 normally held in contact with its corresponding cam member 38 by spring means comprising spring 65 (Fig. 2). It will be understood thatthe longitudinally'extending boarding 'members throughout the greater part of their lengths and that their extreme ends are held yieldingly pressed against cam members 38 on the'supporting members 36 and 31. When the supporting members 36 and 31 are in bent toward the shaft 24 to provide the maximum degree of taper to the conical or tapered ends of the roll 6. Upon moving the supporting members 36 and 31 to the left in Fig. 1 the anti-friction rolls 62 ride along cam surfaces 64 upon the cam members 38. By holding the supporting memhere 36 and 31 in adjusted position, with the rolls 62 located selectively at any one of several points along the cam surfaces 64, the degree of taper of the conical or tapered ends of the roll may be varied as desired. To accomplish this purpose the manually operable lever 50 is provided at its upper end with a pawl 66 (Fig. 3) which may be caused to engage selectively with any one of a number'of teeth 68 upon a rack 16 carried by a stationary part of the machine frame. When the upper end of the manually operable lever 50 is cam members 38 present each a flat surface 12 36 is connected with the groove 58 in an exteneach end of each member l2 are flexible the position shown in e Fig. l, the flexible ends of the members l2 are to the corresponding roll 62 by which the roll 62 and the corresponding ends of the members l2 are held in a position such that the roll 6 is cylindrical throughout; In other words, the conical or tapered end of the roll has been so adjusted as to merge with thecylindrical portion of the roll. The tapered portion of the roll may be restored to any desired degree (within the range provided) by shifting the upper end of the manually operable member 50 to the left in Figs. 1 and 3. For limiting the movement of the supporting members 36 and 31 longitudinally of the shaft 24, there is provided a collar 14 fixedly secured to the shaft at the right end of the roll in Fig. 1, and a second collar 16 fixedly secured to the shaft 24 at the left-hand end of the roll 6. In other words, the collars 14 and 16 insure that the supporting members 36 and 31 will be moved within their proper range of operative movement and not become dislaced into an entirely inoperative position.

Upon inspection of the drawing it will be observed that the boarding roll 4 comprises longitudinally extending boarding members 80 carried fixedly by supporting a shaft 84, tion to the throughout justment to case of roll 6.

In the operation of a boarding machine embodying the boarding rolls 4 and 6 a piece of leather will be placed over the upper edge 8 of the work support 10 when the latter is in a lowered position, not shown in the drawing. Upon raising the work support I to operative position, as shown in Fig. 2, the piece of leather upon the supporting edge 8 is in position to be operated upon by the rolls 4 and 6 which are shown in said figure as rotatively approaching position to 0perate upon the work. As the boarding member l2 on the roll 6 in Fig. 2 moves upwardly, upon rotation of the roll in the direction of the arrow, it engages the leather on the work support l0 and moves it toward the edge 8 at the same time that a boarding member 80 on the roll 4 engages the work on the opposite side of the support I 0 to move it downwardly away from the supporting edge 8. The result is that the leather is grained and softened by being drawn over the edge 8. As the roll 6 is shown in Fig. 1 it has a cylindrical portion of the length indicated by the line a. This cylindrical portion of the roll will engage the work more firmly, that is, with greater pressure, than the tapered portions of the roll, which are adapted to operate upon the loosely textured flank portions of the leather. By changing the roll in such manner that the tapered portions are efiaced or caused to merge into the cylindrical portion of the roll, all portions of the work will receive equal pressure.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine for operating, upon hides, skins and pieces of leather, a work treating roll having an intermediate cylindrical portion and tapered or conical end portions, and means for simultaneously adjusting the tapered end portions to vary the inclination thereof with respect to the cylindrical portion of the roll.

2. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins and pieces of leather, a work treating roll having an intermediate cylindrical portion and tapered or conical end portions, and means comprising a manually operable member for varying the members 82 mounted upon said members 82 being in fixed relashaft 84, since the roll 4 is cylindrical its length and not adapted for adprovide tapered portions as in the 3 lengths of both tapered portions of the roll simultaneously with respect to the cylindrical portion thereof.

3. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins and pieces of leather, a work'treating roll having an intermediate cylindrical portion and tapered or conical end portions, and means comprising a manually operable member located at one end of the roll for varying the inclinations of both tapered portions of the roll simultaneously with respect to the cylindrical portion thereof.

4. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins and pieces of leather, a work treating roll having a cylindrical portion and a tapered or conical end portion, cam members at roll, and a manually operable member arranged to operate said cam members to vary the inclination of the tapered portion of the roll with respect to the cylindrical portion thereof.

5. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins and pieces of leather, a work treating roll having the tapered end of the i a cylindrical portion and a tapered-or conical end portion, and cam members movable in directions lengthwise of the roll and operable to increase or diminish the diametric or tapered portion of the roll.

6. In a machine for operating upon hides; skins and pieces of leather, a work treating roll comprising longitudinally extending members, supporting members arranged for co-operation' with dimensions of the conical the longitudinally extending members to form a cylindrical portion of the roll, a supporting member located adjacent to the endsof the longitudinally extending members at one end of the roll and arranged in co-operation with said ends to form a conical or tapered portion'of the roll, and means comprising a manually operable member for operating the last-mentioned supporting member to vary at will the inclination of the tapered portion of the roll.

7. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins and pieces of leather, a work treating roll comprising longitudinally extending members flexible in the end portions thereof, a shaft at the axis of rotation of said roll, supporting members carried by the shaft and arranged to co-operate with the longitudinally extending members to form a cylindrical portion of the roll, a supporting member mounted on said shaft adjacent to the ends of the longitudinally extending members at one end of the roll, said end supporting member comprising cam members, means comprising a spring for holding the adjacent flexible ends of the longitudinally extending members in contact with said cam members to form a conical or tapered end portion of the roll, and a manually operable member arranged to operate said cam members to effect movement of the adjacent ends of the longitudinally extending members whereby the tapered end of the roll may be varied with respect to the cylindrical portion of the roll.

8. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins and pieces of leather, a boarding roll comprising longitudinally extending boarding members, supporting members arranged for co-operation with the longitudinally extending members to form a cylindrical portion of the roll, other supporting members located at the ends of the longitudinally extending members and arranged in co-operation with said ends to form conical or tapered portions of the roll, and means comprising a manually operable member at one end of the roll for adjusting the last-mentioned supporting members to vary at will the relative inoli'nation of 'the cylindrical and taperedlportions of the'roll.

9. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins and pieces of leather, a boarding roll comprising longitudinally extending boarding members flexible in the endportions thereof, a shaft at the axis of rotation of said ro1l,-supporting members carried by the shaft comprising cam members; meanscomprising a 'springflfor holding the adjacent flexible ends of the longitudinally extending members in contact with said cam members to form conical or tapered :portions at each end of the roll, and a manually operable member arranged to operate said cam members whereby :the tapered ends of the boarding roll may be varied in inclination or completely-merged into the cylindrical portion of the 10. In amachine for operating upon hides, skins and-pieces of leather, aboarding roll comprising a shaft, boarding members extending longitudinally of said shaft in spaced relation thereto, supporting members carried by the shaft and arranged in oOeOperatiQn-With' the longitudinally extending boarding members to form a :cylindrical portion of the roll, said longitudinally extending members having flexible end portions adapted to form a conical or tapered portion at each end of the roll and each boarding member carrying at each of its ends an anti-friction roll,

.cam members carried at each end or" the shaft and arranged in contact with said anti-friction rolls, spring means arranged to hold said anti-friction rolls in contact with said cam members, rods connecting the cam members at one end of the roll with those at the other end of the roll, and a manually operable member arranged to eflfect simultaneous movement of the cam members at both ends of the roll whereby the tapered portions of the roll may be varied with respect to the'cylindrical portion thereof.

11. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins and pieces of leather, a boarding roll comprising a shaft, boarding members extending longitudinally of said shaft in spaced relation thereto, supporting members carried by the shaft and arranged in co-operation with the longitudinally extending boarding members to form a cylindrical portion of theeroll, said longitudinally extending members having flexible end portions adapted to form a conical or' tapered portion at each end of the roll and each boarding member carrying at each of its ends an anti-friction r011, cam members carried slidably at each end of said shaft and arranged in contact with said anti-friction rolls, spring means arranged to hold said anti-friction rolls in contact with said cam members, rods connecting the cam members at one end of the roll with those at the other end of the roll, and a manually operable member at one end of the roll arranged to effect simultaneous sliding movement of the cam members at both ends of the roll whereby the tapered portions of the roll may be expanded or contracted diametrically to vary at will the relative inclination of the cylindrical and tapered portions of the roll.

7 KARL RAUSCH. 

